Cruise line forced into u-turn after ban on guests dressing in drag causes outrage

A cruise company that banned passengers from dressing up for an advertised drag theatre show has been forced to apologise after an internet campaign.

Carnival Cruises had promoted 'Drag Stars at Sea', a cross-dressing themed show on its Carnival Glory ship but prompted fury among passengers after requesting that attending guests didn't dress up for fear of offending families on board.

Wardrobe malfunction: Passengers attending the 'Drag Stars at Sea' show on Carnival Glory will be able to dress up

Vice President of Guest Services Vicky Rey sent an email ahead of the sailing on December 2nd requesting that passengers refrained from donning their glad rags: 'Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason; we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere. It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise.

'Although we realise this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognise that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas.'

Ms Rey went on to say that only performers in the show would be permitted to dress up.

However, the company's President and CEO swiftly reneged on the email after angry passengers took to gay holiday company Al and Chuck's Travel's Facebook page and cruise sites across the internet to complain about the move.

Female impersonators set to appear on the cruise were from the US show RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Right, gay-friendly travel company Al and Chuck's Travel sold the cruise

Carnival President Gerry Cahill said: 'Within the last 24 hours, we became aware of a miscommunication between
Carnival Cruise Lines and AlandChuck.travel, who have booked a large
special interest group on the upcoming Carnival Glory cruise departing
December 2, 2012.

'At Carnival, we are proud to carry more than 4.5 million guests
every year and we welcome them all aboard. We do not practice any form
of discrimination against the LGBT or any other community. We sincerely
apologize for the miscommunication and for any unintended offense we
have caused.

'Given this misunderstanding, anyone on this cruise who wishes to
cancel for any reason may do so and will receive a full refund of their
cruise fare, as well as reimbursement for any non-refundable travel
related expenses.'

The company's quick decision was widely applauded. On specialist cruise holiday site Cruisecritic, one member 'gtalum' said: 'Good move by Carnival to recognize their error and backtrack'. Another 'robbieone' described the response as 'amazingly honest and unprecedented' before adding 'I cannot wait to set sail next week.'

The cruise show features drag queens from US TV show RuPaul's Drag
Race.